Question:
Often, we need to make a minor change, such as correcting a spelling error or reference, that was missed in the initial redline and review. Do these changes have to be routed through the review board again, or can we write a policy that allows Document Control to make the "corrections" after the change is approved and before it is released? For example changing "excepted" to "accepted" or "to" to "two".
Discussion:
You can certainly go with such a policy, but our experience has been that such policies, while well intended, open the system up to abuse. We feel it is very important that the change process absolutely guarantees that what the reviewer signs is what the organization gets. That means that if corrections are required after the review, then the change must be re-signed, no matter how minor the change.
This may sound unreasonable, but you must remember that the problem is not finding an efficient way to make corrections, but that the change process has failed to prevent the mistake in the first place. Re-signing reminds everyone that a mistake was made, which can go a long way to insure the same mistake will not happen in the future. It also reassures those who do sign that nothing is being done behind their backs, no matter how minor.
There are several difficulties in going with a policy that allows non-reviewed corrections. Defining what is allowable is difficult. The process must be audited to insure the "proper" decisions are being made. It is also another way to make changes, which can attract the attention of anyone looking at your process. In our opinion, no matter how hard you try to control this process you are going to make mistakes. You will spend more time and energy having discussions on what can be corrected than if you were to just re-sign changes.
Our recommendation:
The solution is to get the part of the process that finds these "errors" into the change process before the review takes place. It has been our experience that the best "non-technical" reviews take place when the word processing and CAD operators go to work. They see things others don't. This of course requires that changes be made to documents prior to their being approved!
Now, we know that this is not a comfortable idea with a lot of people. We all have been taught that you do not change a document until the change is approved. But, with today's document processing technology such as word processing and CAD, this rule no longer makes sense. We do not make changes to revision A but copy it, make changes to the copy, and call it revision B. In the past you had to physically change the original document, which left you with no approved original for an indefinite time.
To accomplish this effectively, Document Control must be in control of any pending revision. If the word processor or CAD operators notice an error, they can coordinate with the originator and include any corrections in the change. The change is then approved and documents are ready for immediate release. Any errors found by the review board are usually minor and can be quickly fixed.
Our recommendation may or may not fit your process, but seriously consider processing documents prior to review, and make the changes necessary in your process to make it work. Try it for a limited time or on a moderately difficult change. You will find that you not only get a better review with fewer changes, but you can cut your change processing time significantly by using the time between submission and approval for document processing.
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